Maya stood in front of a huge building. It was the only major spaceport of Oklunda, her hometown. Throngs of people were going in and out, barely avoiding her as she stood still and took it all in. Her walk through town had been fairly long as she didn’t have a vehicle to call her own, but it had been refreshing.

Now that she was finally at her first important destination, she was starting to stress out again. She had never left Dust after all. Of course her father had taught her everything she needed to know about spaceships and the importance of spaceports. But it was something different altogether to see it all.

She spotted a rather large spaceship coming down, while a smaller one was leaving. The smooth trajectories and controlled movements were beautiful to behold. It truly was the pinnacle of magical engineering.

Maya stopped congesting the walkway and started moving again, going inside. The building was humongous, the ceiling so high she had to crane her neck to take it all in. She could see several entrances to the different docks with people constantly coming and going. She knew that a lot of people commuted to different stations for work while having a house and family on Dust.

But there were so many people! More than she had managed to imagine in her head. The only gatherings she had attended with her father had been small in size. With at most ten different people. That had already been more than enough for her, as she had to keep track of who was who and what they had previously said. It was different here, where the veil of anonymity draped everyone around her. She didn’t know anything about anyone, and didn’t have to remember anything about them, thankfully.

As she slowly moved more towards the center, she could see that there was a huge square hole in the middle of the spaceport, with different spaceships on every side parked or embarking. She had at first thought the building only went upwards, but it went deep, with at least five different levels downwards, varying in size, with the biggest being at least a hundred meters high.

Not sure where to proceed, she looked around before spotting a sign indicating tickets. Following it she soon found herself in front of an automaton. Unsure of how to use it, she saw that there was a desk with someone in it behind the row of automatons, and she decided that she could use some help. The minotaur, she couldn’t tell if male or female, looked up as she approached.

“Hello, how may I help you?” The minotaur said like it probably had a million times.

“Hello! I would like to go to Trupen station, it’s my first time in a spaceport so I’m not sure how to do this.” Maya said with a nervous smile

“Alright, well, first off, I am obligated to tell you that you could travel by teleportation if you so want. It’s a lot more expensive, like a lot, but instantaneous. Although the trip back will have to be made by ship.” The woman informed her. Maya had spotted the telltale signs of a female on the minotaur.

“Oh, I almost forgot about that. But why can’t you make a teleport trip back?” She asked. Of course her father had spoken about teleportation as a method of transportation, she didn’t know how it had slipped her mind. When one thought of space travel, most people used a ship.

“Eh, I’m not sure, it has to do with the amount of mana. Mana is sparser out there, and becomes more expensive the farther you go. I think it’s just too expensive. It’s already stupid expensif here you know.” The buff woman told her like it was a secret.

“Well, how much is it to go to Trupen station by ship and teleportation?” She asked, curious. She usually didn’t pay for stuff so she had no idea what was expensive or not.

“I can’t tell you for the teleportation, you’ll have to go out and turn right twice to find their office. It’s a lot smaller.” She explained. Then she started mumbling for herself as she fiddled with something under the desk. She could hear her repeat Trupen station a few times.

“Ah, Trupen station. Sector 14. Yeah that’s far. It’ll cost you between two thousand to five depending on who’s ship you wanna board. I would not go for two, as that seems to be in rather bad conditions. For a month-long trip? Too cheap, it’s probably very bad.” A month-long trip? She knew that there were great distances in space, but having it translated into time spent was… unexpected. Trupen station truly was far out there.

“Alright, well, I’ll go see how much the teleportation is then.” She told the very helpful woman as she turned around.

“Yeah, sure, see you in a minute!” The minotaur puffed like she had made a joke. Maya didn’t get it but smiled politely.

She slowly made her way out, the throng of people almost pushing her back as she had apparently taken the wrong way out, with everyone going the other way and yelling at her. These were not very respectable people. But she soon found the right way out and followed the flow of people. She broke off and went right, and right again as soon as she was at the corner.

There, a smaller building, but still huge compared to a normal house, could be seen. There were some people walking in and out, exactly like the spaceport, but they all wore high quality clothes, there was enough room that no one pushed anyone else. Compared to the literal flow of people in the spaceport, here, it couldn’t be called a flow at all, as it was too spacious between people, and relaxed overall.

As she got closer and clearly was making her way inside, some of the people that had gone out looked at her and sneered. Like they thought she didn’t belong. She had long recognized the look as some people had given it to her father in some gatherings. Not always, and never obviously, but still. In general, it was stupid people that did it. True people of knowledge would never jump to conclusions without more data.

As she walked inside, she didn’t see any desk with someone helpful behind it. Instead, there were a few people milling about, and one of them came towards her. She was dressed in a classical butler fashion. She had a big smile on her face as she arrived, but when she opened her mouth, the smile and the words clearly didn’t match.

“This is not a charity, girl, now get out before more people see you.” From an outside view, if you didn’t hear the words, she looked gentle in her way of doing things. But her tone was anything but.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“What?” Maya couldn’t help but ask. Taken aback by this welcome.

“You heard me. Get out, now.” The girl gently took her shoulders and started moving her towards the exit.

“B-But, What? Wait.” She said, but her body continued to move towards the exit. She was bewildered. So easily moved. She could feel different skills at work here, for she was helpless to resist. So instead she thought for a second.

This person had clearly assumed she didn’t fit in. She didn’t want her to make a scene and she couldn’t resist her skills that were inevitably taking her outside. So maybe this was the time to use that lesson her father had told her about.

“If you don’t let go of me I will scream.” She told the other girl, who instantly stopped. But only for a time. Their altercation had already gathered some interest from those around.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, miss. But I’m still obligated to escort you outside.” The other girl snapped back, the polite words not matching her obvious true feelings. She waited a beat, saw that Maya wasn’t going to move and was about to continue ‘escorting her out’ when someone stopped her with a hand.

“Germina, please. This is an exceptional guest you are trying to usher outside.” Someone gently reprimanded her. Germina was swooning at the voice and looked to be somehow melting in front of the man.

“Yes sir, of course. I’m terribly sorry miss.” She said and bowed to her, while never even looking at her. She had heard the expression, star-struck and thought that this must be it. She was like a completely different person in front of this man and soon left them alone as he gently motioned her away.

“My dear Maya, I’m truly sorry my staff failed to recognize you. But I’m more surprised to see you here alone. Isn’t your father with you?” The man told her, and she had to dig in her memories a bit to come up with a name.

“Hello, sir Julius.” She said as she bowed ever so slightly to him.

“No need for that here my dear. Your father is a great friend of mine. No need for any formalities between us.” The man laughed.

“Thank you.” She said again, and he waited for her to gather her bearings.

“My father isn’t here with me.” She simply said to answer the previous question.

“And you are going somewhere all on your own?” He asked, clearly surprised.

“Yes.” She said firmly. Now was not the time to show doubt.

“And where is a young lady like yourself going? You know I can arrange almost anything.” The man said matter of factly.

“Trupen Station.” He raised a brow at her destination.

“Oh?” Was all he said. And she remembered her fathers lesson once more. If you do not want to say something, don’t make excuses, simply don’t say anything.

“Yes.” Was all she answered, even if she knew he was prodding for a reason or something else. It wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. Certainly not with him.

“I see.” Was all he said as he gestured for her to follow him.

“Come with me, let’s get you to your destination.” He said with his back turned to hers as he moved towards the back of the room.

“How much will it cost me?” She asked, and he turned around and laughed at her.

“Oh, for you? Nothing my dear. Your father has helped me more than enough to make up for it. No need to worry about the price.” But even though she wouldn’t be paying, she was curious now how much it would cost someone to be teleported so far.

“How much does a trip to Trupen station usually cost then?” She asked him.

“Oh, it depends on the transported mass, but with two luggages like you? A single person? Somewhere around 750? I’d have to calculate it, but I think it’s a good estimate.” She frowned at his answer. Wasn’t that a lot cheaper than the spaceport? Why then would anyone use a ship if they could simply teleport for cheaper. It didn’t make sense to her.

“But that’s cheaper than the spaceport.” He turned to look at her, with a raised eyebrow.

“750 thousands credit, dear.” She almost stopped in her tracks. That was a whole lot more expensive. A whole lot more. Like almost 250 times more expensive if she assumed no one took the cheapest option at the spaceport.

“I forget you were raised exclusively on Dust.” He said before continuing.

“Which makes this surprising, but also a good thing i hope? No need to worry dear, I won’t pry.” He finished. He had somehow managed to coordinate a team of people who were asking her to step up on a platform. She did as asked and they noted down the numbers that had appeared. Her weight? It made sense for the teleportation.

“I’ll leave you in their good care. Have a safe trip, and come back anytime. You’ll always be welcome here.” Julius finished as several people were now taking care of things around her, even taking her bags.

They motioned for her to enter a small room, sat down her bags and let her wait there for a bit. She was wondering if they were going to teleport her from here, but it didn’t seem made for that purpose at all. A few minutes passed before one of them knocked on the door before opening it.

“Everything is in order, and your teleportation circle is ready, miss Maya.” The man said while half bowed towards her. She got up and he took her bags. She followed him towards a rather large room from where a couple was coming out of with their bags.

“In here, miss.” He guided her as he opened the door. She saw a circular room, shaped like a dome with countless engravings on the ground. It looked almost hypnotizing, where one symbol somehow bled into the next and the next in a never ending pattern that somehow joined back on itself.

“Stand in the middle, and relax. It’ll be over before you know it.” The man reassured her as he gave her back her bags.

She took them, and went to stand in the middle. She hoped her above average weight for her size hadn’t surprised anyone. It wasn’t out of norm per se, but a clue nonetheless. Also, she hoped that the material didn’t matter too much, but it should be fine as they were teleporting her clothes, bags and even her bag of holding, meaning they were teleporting magical things without them breaking.

Having reassured herself, she felt a pit in her stomach still, as the runes on the ground lit up, slowly gaining in power. The low hum made the whole room vibrate, or maybe it was just her. She could feel mana amassing but before she could truly feel anything else, a loud ‘pop!’ sound could be heard, and she instantly noticed she wasn’t in the same room any longer.

It was still a round dome-like room, but far from as well maintained. The service also was clearly different.

“Name and reason of visit?” A bored voice could be heard through a projected voice spell.

“Maya Dufos, engineering student.” She responded, having already come up with a plausible reason for her being here.

“Hah, here to study the system damned diagonal smelters? Good luck.” The voice laughed. The only door opened and she hesitated a bit before picking up her bags. Nothing more was said and she was suddenly out of the room and into Trupen station in truth.

In many ways it resembled Dust, but what stood out was the metallic feel of everything built. Plasteel and heavier metal had been used instead of the lighter stone and even rare wood on Dust. The huge dome made of glass with a view of space was also something she had never seen and it was even more impressive than the different images she had seen of various stations.

She was finally here. It had gone a lot faster than she had thought it would. Now, she had to find out first if her father had been here, and second if anything had happened to him. But first, she would probably need a place to stay. So she ventured into the main street of the station, feeling both nervous and excited. Maybe he was here, somewhere, waiting for her.

One could hope.